Project Tartarus
by avengfulDemigod
Summary: Conflicts rise, discord rages. Hell raises, people die. These are amongst the situations we call gang wars. This is more than just an Alternate Universe. This is Project Tartarus.


**AD: This is an AU I have come up with and I'm writing about on tumblr. **

**AD: ascendingdeath . tumblr . com**

* * *

**Project Tartarus: The Message**

The Demigods have been planning this strike for weeks. The target was a Dregs-controlled skyscraper, a security company. It's full of elite Xaos city security and a few trigger-happy thugs at the top two floors and roof. One of their greatest sources of revenue, with the entire gang war going on.

Tonight, a Demigod strike team was going to blow it the fuck up.

**LINE **

Perseus Jackson, the sole member of the Poseidon unit, stared at the building through his binoculars. He's been over the plan five times. He _knew _something would go wrong. That's why one must always leave room for improvisation. He slipped his own plans in as well.

Their scout, Nico di Angelo, had gone in ten minutes ago, slicing through the window with a glass cutter and sneaking in. Percy didn't worry too much about the kid. Despite only being sixteen, he was the best stealth operative the entire gang had.

Thalia Grace was busy in the facility's power grid, working on gaining control of the electricity at the top floors, where the operation would take place and she could work her magic. Percy didn't worry too much for her either. She was nineteen, the youngest girl to gain second-in-command of the Hunter unit.

Zoe was crouched on the roof, keeping her distance from the males on the squad. She kept her rifle trailed on the windows, ready to fire should anything go awry. Zoe was the designated marksman of the team, being head of the Hunter unit and master with her customized Hunter sniper rifle.

The assault force, Michael Yew, Luke Castellan and Clarrisse La Rue were all in different positions, ready to storm.

The plan was for Nico to find anything else of interest before the actual battle started, and once he was through, have the assault team cause as much mayhem as they could at the first few floors, causing a distraction. Nico would set their engineer's heavily-modified C4 charges as this happened. Once he was done, Perseus would rendeveus with Thalia and Nico at the top floor, where they would breach the top-secret vault up top.

They had thirty minutes to pull this off.

Percy carried three weapons, two Beretta M9F2S pistols, one .50 Magnum and his blade, Riptide. It was all he needed for this.

"_Twenty guards up here. A bunch of files, nothing useful, but the vault is more well-protected than we thought. Thick, titanium door, a code lock and a laser light show. Is it really worth checking out?" _Nico's voice asked. The kid was mature passed his years.

Percy put his hand up to his earpiece. "We'll take a look. Set a charge there, we'll see what's inside once we reach it."

"_I'll get to that. Connect Thalia to the call." _

Percy did.

"_Yeah?" _The older girl's voice asked.

"_Thals, I need you to shut off the power to the security systems in the atrium. Lasers everywhere." _

"_Done."_

"_Thanks." _

"Okay, everyone set?"

Zoe nodded to him. The stealth team confirmed. The assault team confirmed.

"Alright, commence operation!"

He could hear the gunshots from his position. Percy didn't see what happened, but he knew, and he didn't care. He slung his courier bag over his shoulder and tightened the strap, securing it to his back.

"You're sure you can survive this, boy?" The field commander looked over to the squad's DM and flashed a grin, his sea-green eyes glowing with power.

"They didn't choose me for nothing." Percy pulled his hood up over his head. Without hesitation, he ran to the ledge and jumped.

He closed his eyes, the feeling of free-falling enveloping him for seconds before he dissolved into vapor, like a puddle on a Spring day.

* * *

Percy materialized on the roof, where the guards were already dashing for the stairs down. The assault squad was doing their job well, security already needed reinforcements. Percy waited five minutes and ran to the dome-shaped windows of the atrium, grabbed his pistols and shot out the glass as he dove through. He barely made it over the railing to the third floor and landed in a roll. The guards were already cleared out and Nico was already setting the charges.

Percy made his way down to meet up with his companion.

"Hey, Perce." Nico didn't even look up.

"How's that working out?" Percy held up his magnum, keeping an eye out for any hostile that chance may bring upon the two.

"Good. I'm just about… finished." He backed away from the C4, detonator in hand. "Find some cover."

The two of them ran up to the floor above the bottom of the atrium, where the rail set to prevent idiots from dropping down had a metal plate as decoration.

A _ding _came from the elevator behind them. Nico and Percy quickly drew their weapons with lightning-fast speed. Nico held a suppressed glock. Percy had his Berettas trailed on the figure stepping out of the door.

She lazily raised her hands in surrender, yet her face showed anything but fear. She wore an expression of humor. "Not a very nice way to thank me, is that, Nicky?" The dark-haired, blue eyed Hunter laughed.

The boys lowered their weapons. "Hey, Thals. Perfect timing, huh?" Nico joked.

"Ah, shut up."

"Yeah, get behind cover for me, alright?" Percy brandished the detonator as Thalia ducked behind the low wall.

"Okay," she began. "Once that thing blows, an alarm will go off. We'll have about, five minutes before security gets up here. Something in there is important to these guys, and they're not gonna let it go without a fight."

Percy held up his magnum. "That's why we brought _guns_." He emphasized the word 'guns' like it was obvious. Thalia scoffed and drew her crossbow.

"Ready, boys?"

"Oh, Hell yes."

Percy armed the bomb. He counted down.

_Three…_

_Two…_

_One… _

A powerful explosion shook the entire building. The three Demigods jumped. "Christ, how strong did Leo make these things?" Thalia and Nico vaulted over the rail and scrambled over the rubble. Percy jumped down and made verified the area was still clear.

He heard Thalia and Nico's confused questions and tuned them out. Percy had sharp hearing. He listened to his surroundings, closing his eyes. With his other senses disabled, his hearing grew sharp. One of his many talents.

The Demigods' secret weapon held his pistols loosely, ready to snap to a firing position when necessary as he guessed the next threat his team would face. _No one coming… Wait. One, two… four targets. All running, probably armed. Would carry… standard issue M16 assault rifle. ETA… ten minutes. _

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Nico shaking his shoulder. "Perce, you've got to see this…"

The commander of the Poseidon unit whirled around. "Hostiles incoming, four of them, armed. Get ready." He looked passed Nico, into the vault.

He wasn't prepared.

Weapons, blades of bronze and gold, stood before him on marble pedestals. But not just normal weapons. They were based off of Greek mythology, Perseus could tell. The trident, the staff, even a blade that resembled lightning. A scythe stood amongst them as well.

His pocket felt heavy. Perseus reached in, drawing out Riptide. The blade shot out of the hilt. Characters that he had never seen before formed on the blade, glowing gold. Perseus read them clearly.

"_Anaklusmos…" _He read aloud, walking toward the vault. The blade glowed, shining in an aura of green as strong as the sea. Its light grew as he moved closer to the weapon.

"Percy," Thalia asked, suspicious. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer as his fingers closed around the handle of the trident. Perseus' eyes glowed as well for a moment before the tool vanished. In its place was a bronze sword. Percy touched his knife's blade to the sword. They both glowed sea green, and, in a blinding flash of light, they both vanished.

Percy's balisong, Riptide, lay closed on the pedestal. He snatched it up as soon as he heard the guards.

* * *

The stealth team ran out of the vault to a force of twenty guards and at least thirty-seven guns. _I guess my calculations were off. _

"_Keep your hands in the air where I can see them!" _An amplified voice rang out from the speakers. Perseus recognized it.

"Well well, been a while, hasn't it?"

Silence before he answered,

"_Perseus Jackson… Of course it's you." _ The security team trailed their weapons on the Demigods.

"Perce… you'd better think of something fast…" Thalia's crossbow was loaded and ready to fire. Nico stood in Percy's left, his Glock trailed on one specific guard.

They stood in a triangular formation.

"_Surrender or die, kid. Your choice here." _

"Oh, I think you all know my choice." The Sea Prince grinned maniacally. "Kill all sons 'a bitches. But right now, I'm quite sure your team can do better without me, so… I think we'll just take our leave."

He dove backwards, slamming into his team mates.

They dissolved into a sea breeze just as soon as the first twenty slugs flew.

* * *

"You've met that fuck before?" Nico had been bombarding Percy with questions as soon as they appeared on the roof.

"Yes, yes, I told you my story, every single one of them, now can you calm down?"

Percy put his hand up to his earpiece. "Strike team, you out clean? These bombs are stronger than we thought."

"_Yeah," _The static voice of Luke Castellan answered almost instantly. _"Hazel's already picked us up and we're moving fast. You're in the clear." _

"Good." He cut the connection. "Nico, you set everything?"

"Yeah," He handed Percy the second detonator. "You sure we should be doing this? If one blast shook the building, imagine how much damage seven would do?"

"It's a Dregs of Tartarus facility. We're here to send them a message."

"It's his call, Nicky." Thalia added, helping Zoe pack the rest of their gear.

"Alright, blast, in three… two…"

He didn't even reach one before hitting the detonator.

Nico was right, the blast was stronger than they thought. In fact, they were thrown off their feet despite being five-hundred meters away.

"Christ!" Nico cried.

Percy stood.

"God damn, Perce… No regrets?" Thalia questioned him.

He remained silent. The devestation was huge.

"He did what he had to do." Zoe spoke.

"They know now."

His team looked at him, puzzled as he turned, a grim expression on his features.

"The Dregs of Tartarus thought they were in control, that they couldn't be stopped. Everyone else was too powerless to do a damn thing about it. But now, change is coming. They know the Demigods are here, and that we're not fucking around."

Perseus took one last glance at the destruction he caused.

"We sent our message."

* * *

**AD: Heh… I got kind of tired of this draft, decided to finish it now…**

**AD: There was originally intended to be a huge fight scene, but I got lazy… .**

**AD: I'm sowweh. Maybe if you look closely, you can see some of the things I didn't notice and didn't bother to edit out. Hah.**


End file.
